


not enough

by idkimoutofideas



Series: febuwhump 2021 [4]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Episode: e060-066 The Stolen Century Parts 1-7, FebuWhump2021, Gen, Temporary Character Death, Whump, bc stolen century stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 09:35:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29205228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idkimoutofideas/pseuds/idkimoutofideas
Summary: Merle is dicking around in the jungle with Magnus. They landed just a few days ago, and the two of them are checking out their immediate surroundings, seeing what’s up and trying to think of weird alien worlds they might encounter in the future.Written for Febuwhump day 4: Impaling
Relationships: Magnus Burnsides & Merle Highchurch
Series: febuwhump 2021 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2154915
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10
Collections: febuwhump 2021





	not enough

Merle is dicking around in the jungle with Magnus. They landed just a few days ago, and the two of them are checking out their immediate surroundings, seeing what’s up and trying to think of weird alien worlds they might encounter in the future.

“A place that’s only ocean. And there’s a giant underwater city full of merpeople.” Magnus suggests.

“C’mon, you’re thinking too small, man!” Merle shakes his head and idly kicks at a rock on the ground.

“Well you come up with something then.”

“Hmm,” Merle thinks for a second. “How about a planet that’s alive? Like it’s a living creature, with trees for hair and an ocean for a mouth and a mountain for a nose!”

Magnus looks at Merle skeptically. “Gross.”

Merle huffs. “Yeah well it’s more exciting than your ocean planet.”

“My ocean planet is plenty exciting! I mean can you imagine a world full of merpeople? The kind of underwater castles they’d have? With underwater dogs!”

“B-o-r-i-n-g.” Merle rolls his eyes. “What if there’s a planet that’s shaped like a donut? With like a hole in the center? That’d be-” Merle is cut off when Magnus lunges at him, and he’s pushed face first into the ground.

“Ow! What the hell was that… for…” Merle trails off as he drags himself out of the dirt, all thoughts forgotten as he looks up at the creature above him.

It’s a giant plant monster. That’s the only thing Merle can think as he takes it in. It’s at least twenty feet tall, its body made up of dozens upon dozens of thorny, whip like vines that all move together to carry around what looks like an oversized Venus Fly Trap, lined with rows upon rows of sharp pointy teeth.

“Merle!” Magnus’ shout pulls Merle back to reality, and he looks over to see Magnus wrestling with one of the vines. It’s wrapped around his arms, the sharp barbs digging into his skin and keeping him from reaching his axe. Merle stands up and holds out his hands and mutters a prayer to Pan.

_ ‘Nature shit. Right up your alley.’ _ Merle thinks. A bolt of divine energy shoots out from Merle’s outstretched hands, hitting the vine squarely. But his magic is… off. It doesn’t do as much damage as it should, but it distracts the creature long enough for Magnus to grab his axe and slice through the vine.

With both arms free now, Magnus flashes a grateful smile at Merle before he lets out a war cry and rushes the creature. Merle wants to yell something about being careful, but he’s forced to dive out of the way as a large vine comes flying at him, crashing into the ground where he had been standing only moments before.

“Oh it is  _ on _ .” Merle cracks his knuckles and grins, summoning a  _ Spiritual Guardian _ to stand by him. Before it can do anything though, the image of it flickers a few times and then dies.

“Come on!” Merle groans and swats away one of the vines that attacks him with his hammer. Old school it is then.

It’s hard to fight the thing, they’re surrounded on all sides by trees and any space that isn’t tree is taken up by the giant plant monster. It’s difficult to maneuver around, and takes a lot of effort not to get trapped in the mud or in the creature. And Merle’s magic is still being funky. They’re in a  _ jungle _ for Pan’s sake, his magic should be extra powerful! But instead it feels… blocked. Like something is interfering with his connection to Pan and keeping him from utilizing his magic to its full extent. He can’t see Magnus anymore, but he can hear yelling, which means the fighter is still alive. Every time Merle lands a hit, and presumably when Magnus does as well, the creature lets out a high pitched shriek that hurts his ears. He didn’t even know plants could  _ make _ noise like that, though this is anything but a normal plant. 

Merle finally gets a good hit in, sending a bolt of radiant energy right into the creature's screaming mouth, and he gets a rush of satisfaction at seeing it burn. It shrieks again, all the vines that were reaching for Merle recoil, and the creature goes scurrying off into the woods.

“Yeah you’d better run!” Merle shouts after it. It’s gone in seconds, leaving them in an extremely quiet jungle.

It’s then that Merle realizes Magnus has been awfully quiet.

“Magnus? Buddy? Where’d you go?” Merle calls out. He can’t see Magnus anywhere, so he climbs on top of a nearby rock so he can get a better vantage point of the area. He feels a wave of relief when he sees Magnus still standing, leaning back against a tree and slightly hunched over, with his axe laying on the ground next to him.

“Mags? You good?” Merle slides down the other side of the rock and starts making his way over, picking his way through the various vines and bits of plant matter that litter the ground. He’s about fifteen feet away when Magnus finally looks up at him and Merle gets a look at why Magnus had been hunched over.

Namely: the vine impaled deep in his chest.

“Uhh… probably not?” Magnus’ voice wavers, and he tries to give Merle a reassuring smile, but it turns out much more like a grimace. Before Merle can even react, Magnus’ legs go out from under him and he slides the rest of the way down the trunk he was leaning against, hitting the ground hard and letting out a pained gasp.

“Magnus!” Merle rushes the last few feet to Magnus’ side, casting a healing spell as soon as he can reach, but he knows it’s not enough. There’s… a lot of blood. He doesn’t need all his medical training to understand that this isn’t good.

He must make a face, because Magnus chuckles weakly. “That bad, huh?”

“No! Nah this is- this is nothing!” Merle tries to sound unaffected as he whips off his jacket to press against the wound, trying to staunch the bleeding as best he can.

Magnus gives him a look. “I may not be a cleric, but I’m not dumb.” He says quietly.

Merle bites his lip and doesn’t answer immediately, and instead examines the wound as best he can while not letting Magnus bleed to death. The healing spell he cast doesn’t seem to be doing much, and Merle can now tell why. The vine is embedded in Magnus’ chest, right below his sternum. It’s not quite two inches across, and it’s lined with rows of barbed thorns, all hooked and sharp as hell. Every time Magnus moves or even breathes the barbs sink a little deeper.

“It’s… not great.” Merle admits as he starts channeling another healing spell. He doesn’t want to heal too much because he’ll eventually need to take the vine out, but if he can buy them enough time to get back to the Starblaster then maybe…

“Merle.”

“Hang on.” Merle growls. He releases the healing spell, but once again he feels something block his powers, a malevolent force that weakens the effect of his spell. “Shit.”

“Merle-”

“Give me a second.” He can’t heal Magnus, can’t pull out the vine, can’t carry him, and blood is already soaking through the jacket where he’s pressed it against the wound.

“Merle.” Magnus reaches down and grabs one of Merle’s hands with surprising strength considering the amount of blood he’s lost. Merle looks up to see Magnus staring at him, but there’s a slight glazed look in his eyes, not fully focused on the world around him. “You have to go back to the Starblaster.”

Merle blinks for a second, unable to comprehend what Magnus is saying. “No.”

“I’ll be back-”

“No! I’m not going to just  _ leave _ you here!” They glare at each other for a moment.

“What if it comes back?”

“Then I’ll fucking destroy it.”

Magnus sighs and winces. “Merle-”

“I’m. Not. Leaving. You.” Merle growls. He must finally get his message across because Magnus falls silent. Either that or Magnus has run out of energy to argue.

Merle runs through his list of spells in his head, but try as he might he can’t figure out how to get Magnus out of this. He wants to yell in frustration, he’s a  _ cleric _ for Pan’s sake! What good are his abilities if he can’t save his friend?

“It’s okay.” Magnus says quietly.

“Like hell it is.” Merle shoots back. He risks a glance up and sees the same expression that he always sees when Magnus gets injured: eyes screwed shut, a crease in his brow, his mouth pressed into a thin line as he bites his lip to keep from shouting in pain. Unable to bear seeing his friend in pain, Merle reaches out and taps Magnus’ forehead. Magnus’ eyes shoot open at the touch, then his whole body sags as the  _ Calm Emotions _ spell takes over.

It takes a second, but Magnus meets Merle’s gaze and gives him a soft smile. “Thanks.” Magnus’ voice is soft, and his gaze is distant, not entirely focused on anything. Merle doesn’t respond, not trusting his voice, and instead just holds Magnus’ hand tightly.

He doesn’t have to wait long. The vine hit something vital, and less than a minute later Merle watches as Magnus lets out one more breath and then stills. He waits another minute before reaching to look for a pulse, only to find nothing.

Merle lets out a shaky breath and sits back on his heels, not letting go of Magnus’ hand. He should go. Tell the crew what happened and bring them back so they can give Magnus a proper burial. Merle can’t do it by himself, and the Starblaster isn’t that far away. Leave it to Magnus to die within a month on a new planet and less than a mile from the ship.

Merle finally stands up, and he tries to wipe the blood off his hands but ends up just spreading it across everything. He lets out a heavy sigh and looks down at Magnus. From this angle it almost looks like he’s asleep.


End file.
